


you're coming home, and it's the end of the world

by dykesasuke



Series: let's start again [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Kinda, M/M, basically they both go out and travel, i just wanted to explore what i think their mindset after vote 2 shouldve been, naruto doesnt wanna be hokage, they both have ptsd, this is a result of me looking at canon and going "nah. im good."
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 07:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20690003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dykesasuke/pseuds/dykesasuke
Summary: The cicadas thrum incessantly in the sea of redwoods barely ten paces in front of him. The path out of Konoha in front of him is dusted and bathed in golden, dappled light. It's one of the smaller ones, leading out as far as the eye can see into dying light and dark leaves. On each of the trees in front of him he can clearly see cicada shells that are remnants and artifacts of the bugs who had squirmed and writhed their ways out of them. The light around him continues to shift and gradually darken his surroundings, and he's certain that if he was to turn his face towards the sky he would see every shade of every gradient of pinks, and oranges, and blues, and blacks.Instead, he turns his head towards the sun.





	you're coming home, and it's the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

> lul so this au has been my go-to daydream since school started again, and i wrote this in between classes after i saw one of those tumblr ask game prompt things. this was very self indulgent and tbh its kinda choppy but w/e. this might become a series but itll def update very sporadically. chapter 2 will come out eventually but now that schools started fr it might take a bit.
> 
> fic title from I Want You by mitski (i listened to that song on loop while writing this. link to my slow sns/this au playlist in bottom authors notes.) chapter title from We Looked Like Giants by death cab for cutie.

"So you're just gonna leave without even saying goodbye? Again?" 

Sasuke has always known more than he's ever wanted to know. He knows that voice better than his own. He knows it better than he knows the stars, than anything he's seen with his Sharingan. At this point, he knows it better than his own parents' voices. It's caused all the pain in the world and all the regrets that he bears on his back knowing the face attached just as well. 

Sasuke goes still. Inhales. Exhales. Considers for a moment whether he should turn around or not. He knows he'll leave this damn city either way, no matter how much Naruto might try to convince him not to. 

The cicadas thrum incessantly in the sea of redwoods barely ten paces in front of him. The path out of Konoha in front of him is dusted and bathed in golden, dappled light. It's one of the smaller ones, leading out as far as the eye can see into dying light and dark leaves. On each of the trees in front of him he can clearly see cicada shells that are remnants and artifacts of the bugs who had squirmed and writhed their ways out of them. The light around him continues to shift and gradually darken his surroundings, and he's certain that if he was to turn his face towards the sky he would see every shade of every gradient of pinks, and oranges, and blues, and blacks. 

Instead, he turns his head towards the sun. 

Looking over his shoulder at him, his heart tugs at itself and drops to his stomach in the best imitation of a petulant toddler, as it had a tendency to do. If Sasuke was better with words, he might've written pages upon pages of prose describing the way the sunset draped across Naruto's shoulders. The boy in question is staring at him with a look he can't quite decipher- not frothing-at-the-mouth furious, not heartbroken, not that challenging grin- just a muted disappointment. His posture is different than his usual slouch or headstrong posturing- he's curled in on himself, but it's barely noticeable to anyone who didn't know what to look for. Sasuke, however, has had years to learn, and he's almost tempted to call his expression one of defeat. 

"Sasuke?" Naruto calls to him again, and Sasuke thinks that of all the faces he has burned into his memory, his is the one he knows the best. However, this is a new expression, and no matter how much of a child prodigy he was, he couldn't for the life of him figure it out. Naruto's eyebrows are drawn together slightly, just enough to create a crease in his forehead. There's something muted about his eyes that Sasuke can't quite put his finger on, but he thinks he understands. 

He forces himself to look away, down to where a never ending platoon of ants are marching on the line between Sasuke, Konoha, and Naruto. 

"I can't stay here, Naruto. If I'm here any longer, I swear I…" He trails off, awkward, lost for words, and vaguely surprised that Naruto hadn't yelled at him yet. This isn't how things should be; he knows that. Sasuke shouldn't hesitate. Sasuke shouldn't falter. Naruto has never had nothing to say. But the world has already ended once and they're still here despite it all, so maybe the idea of change isn't quite so outlandish. 

He forces himself to keep his eyes trained on the ants, knowing with absolute certainty that were he to look up, he wouldn't be able to look away. He can't quite remember who, but someone once told him that the curse of the Uchiha was their own memory (That's a lie. He remembers exactly who told him, but that wound was too fresh. It hadn't even scabbed over yet). Despite that, a part of him almost wants to look up; remember something beautiful for once instead of death and trauma. 

Instead, he focuses on the sounds around him. In front of him, in the redwoods, he can hear the croak of a vulture. Hopping from the fence gate and stopping to stare at them, a toad sits on the line separating Konoha from the outside world. Behind him, he can hear the whippoorwills calling from the clotheslines, high in the trees, and hidden among the ledges of the Hokage Tower. 

"If you stay here any longer, you'll suffocate," Naruto finishes his thought for him, and Sasuke snaps his eyes back up. When their eyes meet, the birds take a breath, the ants rest in their endless march, and the cicadas quiet themselves for a single beat of respite. 

Sasuke doesn't nod. Doesn't say anything. Doesn't do anything. He doesn't need to; they've never really needed to speak to understand each other. The two of them stare at each other as the animals around them stir back to their rhythm, and Sasuke takes a breath at the same time Naruto's chest rises and falls. The moment stretches between them, their shadows longer than they've ever been. Sasuke blinks first, Sharingan bleeding through his irises, and then Naruto's eye lashes flutter- eyes first flicking down to the ants and then to Konoha stretching behind them. When they meet Sasuke's again, they have the barest flicker of the fire in them again- the thing they've been missing recently. 

"Then let's go together," Naruto says. 

Sasuke's world hitches and he almost- _ almost- _ gapes, but he manages to scrape together the remaining bit of his dignity. He turns to fully face Naruto, willing every bone in his body not to hope, not to get any ideas. 

He raises an eyebrow, but the other boy just stares right back, the familiar fire and sheer bullheadedness evident in every lean line of his body. 

"You heard me," Naruto continues. "Just the two of us. We'll go wherever we want. We'll do whatever we want. Together." 

"You expect me to believe you'd really leave Konoha just like that?" Sasuke scoffs, but the little part of him that's always betrayed him wants so badly to believe that just _ maybe _ Naruto might say yes. "You spent so long trying to drag me back here, and you're ready to leave just like that?" 

"Fuck Konoha! Fuck being hokage!" The outburst takes Sasuke by surprise, and his eyes widen just the tiniest bit when he sees the way Naruto's fist is clenched. He stalks up to him and for a moment Sasuke thinks he might get punched, but instead the front of his shirt is yanked. He stumbles forward a bit, wide eyed and unwilling to take his eyes off the other for a single moment. 

"Let go of me," Sasuke says as a last ditch effort to save himself, but Naruto reads it for what it really means: _ back out now while you still can. _

Their foreheads are almost touching. Neither of them are wearing their forehead protectors. 

"No. Listen here, Sasuke. I've spent my entire life looking for a family, looking for attention, looking for even a single scrap of acknowledgement, and you were the first one who gave me all three. I've spent nearly as long chasing after you, and I finally managed to catch up! I spent all that time trying to get you back _ home _, not back to Konoha! It's never been about Konoha!"

The soft coo of a mourning dove, at home in the dying hours of the day, drifts down to them in the silent moment following Naruto's outburst. 

Sasuke swallows. Blinks. Blinks again when his vision goes blurry and his throat closes up. The hold on his shirt releases and he breathes deeply. On the exhale, he looks over Naruto's shoulder at the last vestiges of the sun still barely hanging on. The oranges bleed into deep blues that seep like watercolors across the darkening night sky, and even without looking behind him Sasuke is certain he will see the moon sharing the same sky, ever following the sun. 

He shoves his hand into his pocket, and lets his eyes slide onto Naruto's face again. 

"So, are we going or not?" Naruto asks, blonde hair catching the last of the golden hour light.

The sides of Sasuke's mouth quirk up into a small smile as he shakes his head and turns around to start walking. 

"You've really lost it this time," He says quietly. 

Naruto makes a noise of indignation, but he falls into step alongside him anyways, "Says _ you. _" 

They bump shoulders playfully, and Naruto turns towards him, grin making his eyes crinkle. Sasuke laughs genuinely for the first time in god knows when, and thinks he knows how it feels to hold the sun in his palms.

**Author's Note:**

> au playlist- https://spoti.fi/2kI04sP  



End file.
